Round Top’s First Film Festival Is Debuting, Bringing Movie Magic to the Texas Countryside Thanks to a Mother-Daughter Duo
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BY Candice Cowin // 10.21.24Round Top Film Festival Founders Shanna and Skylar Schanen are ready for movie mania. The first Round Top Film Festival is coming.
Cinephiles rejoice. The first-ever Round Top Film Festival (RTFF) is coming to the Texas countryside this November. More than 40 films will be screened, along with Q&A panels, workshops and parties. After months of anticipation, the Round Top Film Festival organizers have nailed down the films that will be screened and confirmed which film industry stars will be in attendance.
Running from November 7 through 10, the 2024 film festival program is bringing a full slate of narrative films, documentaries, shorts and music videos. In total, there will be seven world premieres and 17 Texas premieres. Visit here to take a look at the full RTFF movie lineup.
The Rising Star Showcase scheduled for November 9 brings a moderated conversation with a group of young actors including Deadpool‘s Brianna Hildebrand, West Side Story‘s Kyle Allen, Yellowstone‘s Lilli Kay and Sasha Lane of The Crowded Room.
An RTFF pop-up box office has been set up at 106 N. Washington Street in Round Top. The box office will be open daily from 10 am through 4 pm Mondays through Saturdays (closed Sundays) through November 5. Round Top Film Festival representatives will be on hand to assist in the purchase of festival passes and answer questions about how best to fest.
The 550 District will serve as the main festival hub during the event, with additional screenings and happenings taking place at Festival Hill. A box office will be located at the Stone Cellar restaurant and honky tonk for the long festival weekend, and a screening room will be set up at the Round Top Dance Hall. Both are located on The 550 District campus.
A showcase of brands and vendors will also be on hand throughout the four-day festival culminating in the lively Saturday Night Party for VIP pass holders and special guests.
RTFF’s founders are the mother and daughter duo of Shanna Schanen and Skylar Schanen, whose familial ties to the Round Top area go back generations. Shanna Schanen’s great-grandparents were Czech and German settlers to the region, and she was raised in La Grange.
Relocating in her twenties, Shanna and her husband Rob Schanen raised their family in Houston, then Austin, while acquiring a Round Top property in 2007 as a weekend retreat.
“I would escape into the trees and make up stories about runaway girls and fierce horseback riders,” Skylar Schanen recalls of her childhood stays at the family’s Round Top retreat.
Skylar is a filmmaker, who at the age of 17 produced her first screenplay Space Case, which was made into a movie. Now 23, she’s been on both sides of many cinematic sets. She’s written, directed and starred in indie films, garnering awards along the way.
“Some films never see past the final edit,” Skylar Schanen notes. “Film festivals offer a vital platform for artists to create and exhibit their work, potentially launching careers in an industry hungry for fresh voices.
“We want to welcome the film community to the best little town in Texas, and are eager to cultivate opportunities for networking, and celebrate the beauty of storytelling.”
And there’s no better time to celebrate movies than fall in Texas.
“Fall is our absolute favorite time of year in Texas,” the Schanens write. “We thought it would be perfect for a film festival. The timing works to keep the buzz alive in town by bridging the gap between the antiques fair and the holidays. Coincidentally, from a Hollywood perspective, it also lines up with the opportunity to screen great films vying for a final awards season push.”
An Audience Award for the Best Feature Film; and Jury Awards for Best Live Action Short, Best Comedy Short, Best Documentary Short, and Best Music Video will be handed out on the final day of the festival.
Want to be part of this first Round Top Film Festival as a viewer? For more information and to purchase passes, go here.